Oliver Stone's Snowden Doesn't Tell Us Anything We Don't Already Know

Edward Snowden has a hell of a story. Boy grows up in a military family, works his way into the inner circle of the United States' intelligence apparatus without a college degree, then catapults himself into international politics by releasing a torrent of classified information to WikiLeaks. Great fodder for a biopic, right?

Unfortunately, Oliver Stone's Snowden offers few insights. We are introduced to Snowden (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) after he has fled the U.S. and is on his way to meet documentary filmmaker Laura Poitras (Melissa Leo) to film the 2014 documentary Citizenfour, which Stone uses as the framework for Snowden's story. We are then taken back to his early days training for the CIA, where we are introduced to his mentors Corbin O'Brian (Rhys Ifans) and Hank Forrester (Nicolas Cage).

Related: Citizenfour Shows History Happening in Real Time.

This is where the problems start. For a film that centers on Snowden's questioning the very system he comes to realize he inadvertently helped create, Snowden gets boxed into its own system of Hollywood convention and flash. Stone paints Snowden as a wunderkind, whose seamless ascent to the top of his class relies on tired "genius" tropes (he aces his cyber exam in record time! He solves a Rubik's Cube!) that whitewash his career with cheap thrills. Extensive time is devoted to a subplot revolving around Snowden's relationship with girlfriend Lindsay Mills (Shailene Woodley), bogging down the film with an unnecessary layer of personal drama.

This surface-level treatment of Snowden's story is fine for those ill-informed about his exposure of the U.S. surveillance program. But beyond its means as a tool to entertain with big-name movie stars, Snowden offers little. And it's a damn shame since, on paper, Snowden affords plenty of opportunity to get into the nooks and crannies of one of international politics' most contentious figures, one that could've been approached on a deeply personal level since Stone consulted Snowden while filming.

Related: Ted Walls' Graphic Novel Snowden, Reviewed.

Stone ultimately doesn't shed any light on Snowden's story that you couldn't get from a Wikipedia entry. Do yourself a favor and just watch Citizenfour instead.

C-. Snowden is rated R. It opens Friday at Cedar Hills, Clackamas, Oak Grove, Vancouver.

Willamette Week